have a bone to pick, to

To have a point to argue, an unpleasant issue to discuss, or a complaint. This term, which alludes both to a dog worrying a bone and to two dogs fighting over a single bone, dates from the early six- teenth century. “I will add this, which may be a bone for you to pick on,” wrote James Calfhill (Answer to Martiall, 1565)—that is, an issue to worry to death. “There is a bone for the gastronomers to pick,” Sir Walter Scott was quoted as saying about 1830, denoting something for more than one person to argue about.